The COVID-19 pandemic marked the second year of his administration. The ongoing surge in the number of illnesses and deaths significantly disrupted the provision of medical services, which at the beginning of 2020 were preparing for the change brought about by the creation of the Institute of Health for Well-being (Insabi). The main objective is to guarantee free care and medications for people outside of social security coverage.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged that people will have this benefit starting December 1.

This was explained on October 14 by Finance Secretary Arturo Herrera during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's morning press conference.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pledged that people will have this benefit starting December 1. To that end, yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Health (Ssa) published in the Official Gazette of the Federation the agreement establishing an exemption from payment for hospitalization services, consultations, medical procedures, and auxiliary diagnostic studies in federal hospitals, highly specialized hospitals, and national health institutes under the jurisdiction of that federal agency.

This exemption applies to the six existing socioeconomic levels, although the document does not mention anything about medications, which must also be free.

The remaining health centers and general hospitals operating in the country continue to be administered by state governments, so free services will become available once the states join Insabi.

This is because, although most states signed the adhesion agreement and agreed to transfer responsibility for providing services to the Federation, the process was complicated by administrative issues and was completely halted by the pandemic.

Separately, there are the nine states in the country whose governors refused to join Insabi, considering that it did not represent any benefit to their citizens. These are: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas.

COVID emergency

This opposition continued during the health emergency, with criticism of the federal government's handling of it. Some leaders have even implemented measures that differ from those dictated by the central government. Among the issues that have generated controversy is the use of face masks, which are mandatory in some states. Meanwhile, federal authorities have maintained a contrary position, even remaining reserved about the effectiveness of the device in controlling the pandemic.

Another action criticized from various sectors has been the so-called limited number of diagnostic tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as they are not being performed on a mass scale.

Meanwhile, the National Health Plan proposes prioritizing primary care, that is, at the community level, with the goal of making disease prevention a reality and thus addressing the current impact of conditions such as overweight, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.